In nature, organisms of the same species usually differ from each other in some aspects, e.g., their appearance. The differences are genetically determined and are referred to as polymorphism. Genetic polymorphism is the occurrence in a population of two or more genetically determined alternative phenotypes due to different alleles. Polymorphism can be observed at the level of the whole individual (phenotype), in variant forms of proteins and blood group substances (biochemical polymorphism), morphological features of chromosomes (chromosomal polymorphism) or at the level of DNA in differences of nucleotides (DNA polymorphism).
Polymorphism also plays a role in determining differences in an individual's response to drugs. Cancer chemotherapy is limited by the predisposition of specific populations to drug toxicity or poor drug response. Thus, for example, pharmacogenetics (the effect of genetic differences on drug response) has been applied in cancer chemotherapy to understand the significant inter-individual variations in responses and toxicities to the administration of anti-cancer drugs, which may be due to genetic alterations in drug metabolizing enzymes or receptor expression. For a review of the use of germline polymorphisms in clinical oncology, see Lenz, H. J. (2004) J. Clin. Oncol. 22(13):2519-2521; Park, D. J. et al. (2006) Curr. Opin. Pharma. 6(4):337-344; Zhang, W. et al. (2006) Pharma. and Genomics 16(7):475-483 and U.S. Patent Publ. No. 2006/0115827. For a review of pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics in therapeutic antibody development for the treatment of cancer, see Yan and Beckman (2005) Biotechniques 39:565-568.
Voltage-gated Sodium Channel (VGSC) is a large, multimeric complex, composed of an α subunit and one or more smaller β subunits. VGSC activity has been shown to contribute to many cellular behaviors integral to metastases, invasion and progression. In vitro and in vivo models have indicated that an increase in VGSC alpha gene expression is associated with metastatic potential, proliferation and progression of breast and prostate cancers.
Thymidylate synthase (TS), dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), and thymidine phosphorylase (TP) are important regulatory enzymes involved in the metabolism of the chemotherapeutic drug 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU).
Cell cycle regulation provides the foundation for a critical balance between proliferation and cell death, which are important factors in cancer progression. For example, a tumor suppressor gene such as p53 grants the injured cell time to repair its damaged DNA by inducing cell cycle arrest before reinitiating replicative DNA synthesis and/or mitosis (Kastan (1991) Cancer Res. 51:6304). More importantly, when p53 is activated based on DNA damage or other activating factors, it can initiate downstream events leading to apoptosis (Levine (1992) N. Engl. J. Med. 326:1350). The advent of tumor recurrence after radiation therapy depends significantly on how the cell responds to the induced DNA damage; that is, increased p53 function should induce apoptosis in the irradiated cell and thereby prevent proliferation of cancerous cells, whereas decreased p53 function may decrease apoptotic rates.
Finally, DNA repair capacity contributes significantly to the cell's response to chemoradiation treatment (Yanagisawa (1998) Oral Oncol. 34:524). Patient variability in sensitivity to radiotherapy can be attributed to either the amount of damage induced upon radiation exposure or the cell's ability to tolerate and repair the damage (Nunez (1996) Rad. One. 39:155). Irradiation can damage DNA directly or indirectly via reactive oxygen species, and the cell has several pathways to repair DNA damage including double-stranded break repair (DSBR), nucleotide excision repair (NER), and base excision repair (BER). An increased ability to repair direct and indirect damage caused by radiation will inherently lower treatment capability and hence may lead to an increase in tumor recurrence. Genes associated with DNA repair include XRCC1 and ERCC2.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents the second leading lethal malignancy in the USA. In 2005, an estimated 145,290 new cases will be diagnosed and 56,290 deaths will occur (Jemal, A. et al. (2005) Cancer J. Clin. 55:10-30). Despite advances in the treatment of colorectal cancer, the five year survival rate for metastatic colon cancer is still low, with a median survival of 18-21 months (Douglass, H. O. et al. (1986) N. Eng. J. Med. 315:1294-1295). Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a reliable screening method capable of predicting the clinical outcome of a specific therapeutic regime for treating CRC and other gastrointestinal cancers.